On Monday, actor and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger visited Stockton University to speak out against rising hate and antisemitism.
Schwarzenegger's visit included a stop at the Holocaust Resource Center where he met with Holocaust survivors and listened to their stories. One of those survivors was Maud Dahme, who was kept away from the Nazis for three years with her sister and placed with a fake family in the Netherlands until Allied soldiers liberated them in April 1945. Dahme shared her story with Schwarzenegger, including the hunger winter from 1944 to 1945, when there was no food for anyone and people resorted to eating tulip bulbs and other things to survive.
During his speech to hundreds of students at Stockton University, Schwarzenegger spoke about his own childhood experiences, saying, "I saw a lot in my childhood…People getting shot, and you know airplanes were constantly coming over, being shot down." He and Dahme shared a commitment to the same message, "never again will hate be allowed to consume an entire nation." Schwarzenegger emphasized the importance of standing up against hate and antisemitism and choosing the path of strength rather than hate.
Schwarzenegger's visit to Stockton University was part of his nationwide effort to fight against rising hate and antisemitism. Although many of the students in attendance were not even born during the height of Schwarzenegger's popularity in the 1980s, there was an overflow crowd eager to hear his message. Schwarzenegger spoke about the dangers of hate throughout history and how it has always been the easy path, the path of least resistance. He emphasized that hate does not lead to success, fulfillment, or happiness.
Schwarzenegger also shared how deeply moved he was during his visit to Auschwitz, a former Nazi death camp in Poland, last year. He described the logbooks with thousands of names crossed out, as if a cruel accountant only measured death. He emphasized that those who tolerate hate are strong, while those who give in to hate are weak. Schwarzenegger said that he has spent most of his life helping people find their strength and encouraged the students to choose strength, life, and to conquer their minds.
Schwarzenegger and Dahme both share the same message - never again will hate be allowed to consume an entire nation. Schwarzenegger spoke about the easy path of hate and how it leads to destruction and pain, while the path of tolerance and strength leads to success and happiness. He emphasized the importance of choosing strength over weakness, and conquering one's mind to overcome hate.